


The Silent Martyr

by Triple_Gemini



Series: The McKirk Alternatum [4]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Bones, Can't really say anything else because, Euugh, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Meh, Minor Character Death, Mutants, Secrets, Spoilers, X-men Inspired, but I quite like this one., idek, im an evil little shit i know.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2421353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triple_Gemini/pseuds/Triple_Gemini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where mutants aren't generally accepted, Leonard McCoy has to deal with something he can never really get rid of, no matter how hard anyone tries. </p><p>Excerpt:</p><p>"Kid, I once told you all I had left are my bones. Turns out even <em>they're</em> hollow."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I found this in the deep depths of my notes and decided to post it. Any mistakes are entirely my fault as it's beta'd by my impatient self. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own any thing to do with Star Trek, nor any of the concepts of X-Men, I do however, own a strange imagination that likes to make these stories appear magically on paper.

"You're a freak!"

He keeps walking, head hung low, eyes on the pavement.

"Mom said people like you shouldn't be around us. She said you're not normal."

"Your mom's a liar." He replies, eyes still trained on the ground, pace picking up a little as he tries to get home. 

"Hey! My mom ain't no liar! You gonna go cry to your daddy? He ain't gonna help you. He thinks the same as the rest of us."

Len turns then, anger flaring and lands a punch to the boys stomach. The kid hits the ground with a sharp cry a few meters away and backs off, scrabbling along the ground to his friends, who are frantically shouting at each other in haste to get away. It's the first time he hits someone and he vows it's going to be the last.

***

 

"Leonard, this isn't... Normal. Just a tiny operation and they'll be gone. You can have your life back. You want that don't you?"

The boy nods, ducking his head so he can't see shame and horror in his fathers eyes.. Just 'cause he's a mutant.

"I don't wanna get rid of them." Len sniffs, his eyes watering up.

"Well you have to. No son of mine is a mutant." His father threatens, loosing all false sympathy. "Come on, we're gonna get rid of the damned things once and for all."

 David doesn't look at him again, just drags him along by the hand to his room at the hospital. His father can't perform the surgery on his own son, so he'll keep watch while someone else does the work. Tears stream down the boys face as he's injected with anaesthetic. They don't understand. No one does.

 

***

 

"I don't understand."

"Honey, we talked about this before-"

"I seem to remember reaching the conclusion that we wouldn't do anything until he's old enough to make the decision _himself_."

"You know it's bad press to keep him the way he was."

"You're _ashamed_ of your own _son-"_

"C'mon! We both know that's not true!"

"Oh really David? You didn't even consult me before doing what you damn well pleased. Do you even care how this will effect his life?!"

"It's for the best! You know that!"

"No. I don't know that."

"Eleanor come on. Please. We can talk about this later."

She huffs an angry breath and keeps her gaze locked in front of her, onto the icy road ahead. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"..I knew you'd try to talk me out of it."

She slams her fists against the steering wheel. "You are not the man I fell in love with David McCoy! Since when did everyone else's opinions matter so much to you? Back then you'd of learnt to accept your son is a-" she's too caught up in her fury and distrust, she doesn't notice the van speeding toward her own car until it's too late.

It comes toward them in just a few heart wrenching seconds. It's the sound that's the most prominent. The shrill shrieking of the other cars breaks, the deafening crash of the first impact when it comes into contact with their own car. The shattering of the glass and crunching and grinding of the metal. He's aware of the air bags deploying, but he can sense it's too late, his mothers neck is twisted at a funny angle. He doesn't have to be the son of a doctor to see it's broken. From the angle he's sat, he can't see his father in front. He feels it though. The deathly silence.

He's dimly aware of the fire that's spreading through the front of the car, of the blood that's trickling steadily into his right eye where he hit his head against the door window in the initial impact. He should move, but he feels glued to the spot.

There's a crowd of people outside now, their cars abandoned in the road in favour of gaping at the destruction scene or worse, taking pictures of the wreckage on their cell phones. His vision begins to darken around the edges, his head getting more and more foggy. He's vaguely aware of a shout from one of the women outside. Something along the line of "Someone help! there's a boy in there!" And then they're dragging him out, lifting him into a fireman's carry and settling him on the cold gravelly floor.

The sirens are getting closer. A painful high pitched wail that makes his head throb even more. The group of people looming over him are being ushered away. An oxygen mask is placed over his mouth by a blurry figure he can't quite make out, only realising then that he couldn't breathe before. His head lolls to the side, just in time to see a figure being pulled out of the speeding van before he passes out, grateful for the quiet peace that comes with being unconscious.

 

***

 

"C'mon Bones! It'll be fun!"

"Since when has sweet-talking aliens into signing some damn treaty been classified as 'fun'?" Bones replies, deadpan.

"Since you're there to do it with me... No offence Spock." Jim flashes one of his bright shit-eating grins. Spock stares at him non-plussed. Len rolls his eyes and steps onto the transporter with the other two men. "Thats the spirit Bones!" Jim strides over and places a light kiss on his cheek which everyone else in the room seems to turn a blind eye to, with the exception of Uhura, who scrunches her face up in a fond sort of annoyance at the them both.

 "Energise!"

***

Len's laying on his front, as usual -A habit Jim's never particularly understood- with the covers slung low across his hips revealing a large expanse of perpetually sun bronzed skin that Jim can't resist trailing his fingers down. He stops when they come into contact with marred flesh. He sits up slightly, balancing on one arm to look down at the skin and notices two symmetrical starburst scars to the side of either shoulder blade. He presses his palm to the cool skin.

Len looks up to him through long eyelashes.

"When'd you get these?" Jim asks, trailing his fingers between the two large scars and settling back down on the bed so they're face to face.

Len sighs."I was in a car crash when I was young. Mum 'n dad were arguing 'n drunk driver rammed into the car. I was the only one who made it out." His accent is more prominent when he's just woken up, Jim notes.

"Oh. Bones, I'm sorry."

"S'okay."

 

***

Jim's turned away, too busy flirting shamelessly with the whole goddamn council to notice the Ariyan hidden in the shadows, pointing an old style projectile weapon that looks like something out of a 21st century action movie. Bones notices sometime early during the negotiations but shouting it to high heavens isn't gonna get them out alive. Not with the gun so expertly trained on them at all times. So he waits. Waits while Jim is busy being a good captain, so blissfully oblivious to the danger he's in.

He hears the click of the safety catch being released and the gun is aimed. He swipes his foot along the floor, catching Jim's feet and effectively knocking the man to the ground with an undignified shout.

The shot comes next. A harsh bang that echoes in the large hall as the bullet ricochets off one of the stone walls.

Bones stares down at Jim anxiously. "Jim, you oka-?" He's cut off by another shot which rings through the room. Its hits somewhere in his stomach, he cant tell exactly where because of the burning pain rippling through his skin, drowned out by the sharp piercing pain in his back that feels like two knives have been speared in between his shoulder blades.

A steady trickle of blood down his spine and stomach drips onto the floor which seems to echo through the deadly silent room. He can feel everyone's stares _burning_ into his flesh.

"Bones." Jim whispers, a mortified expression on his face as he can't seem to decide to focus on the area behind Len or the man's abdomen. Len swallows nervously and lets out a shaky breath.

"you weren't meant to find out like this Jim." Len says with a sad smile, standing there shirtless, with a bullet hole in the side of his abdomen and a pair of large, gleaming white wings protruding from his back, the tattered remains of his medical blues caught on a large errant feather. The wings stretch, reaching and expanding every second until they trail along the floor, splattered in blood in a way that looks particularly macabre.

He makes the mistake of looking down seeing the entry wound from the bullet. The pain, barely noticed a few moments ago starts to ripple through his skin unbearably. He falls to his knees because dammit he's he's a mutant, not a fallen angel. He _can_ feel pain.

He's glad Jim's there to catch him because falling on his back would make this ten times worse than it is. He's sat up, back against Jim's front, wings wrapped in a cocoon around himself protectively and his head resting on Jim's shoulder as the blonde whispers reassurances in-between barking out orders to his crew. Through bleary eyes he sees the shooter being restrained by a few security guards.

Jim uses the remains of Lens shredded shirt to stem the bleeding of the mans stomach while Bones' wings shift restlessly, like they're trying to crawl back under his skin. He pales a little when he feels blood seep through his uniform.

"Bones, sit up a little, I need to see your back." Jim encourages. Bones mutters something unintelligible and steadies himself with shaky arms, causing him to groan in pain. "shhh its okay." Jim soothes and winces when he sees the state of Len's back. Blood weeps from the base of both wings, the skin ripped and shredded in evidence of where they've torn through his skin, but the damage being surprisingly small considering how large the wings are, but then he realises they've been growing even since Len collapsed. They must of started smaller and grown at least 6 foot in less than a minute. He'll have to ask Bones about it when he's safe. Jim decides.

He pulls Bones gently back into his embrace, reapplying pressure on the bullet wound and setting his jaw defiantly to everyone staring at them right now. Golden light swarms around the two men as they're transported to the Enterprise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I gotta admit... I haven't read through this chapter ~~It's probably packed with mistakes~~  its  _fine_ really. And  ~~I'm not happy with the ending~~  ....and of course I screwed up the timelines! But other than that... Enjoy! 
> 
>  
> 
> Inspired by the song Grounds for Divorce by Elbow... 'Tis a good song... found here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxczVhG0os8

" _Shit_. Nononono don't you _dare_ do this again!" Bones mutters under his breath, tiptoeing towards the bathroom as not to disturb Pamela from her sleep. "Lights, 30 percent." He calls when he reaches his destination, bracing his hands against the sink when another wave of pain washes through him. " _Fuck_." He hisses and locks the door, ripping off his sleep shirt to get a look at his back in the mirror, watching the bones shift in his back.

He sinks to the floor, dragging his palms down his face as another wave of pain cramps his back.

"Leonard!" Pamela calls, a heavy knocking following soon after. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Leo grits out, clenching his teeth,

"Yeah sounds like it." She replies, trying the door handle.

Len cries out, causing Pamela's knocking to become more urgent. "Len!" She calls, pushing the door again. "Let me in, please!"

"I'm fine! Just go back to be-" He stops mid sentence as the last of the pain subsides and Pamela finally manages to get the door open, standing in the doorway with a look of pure horror on her face when she takes in the sight of Len curled up in the corner, large wings draped around himself in a way that must only look pitiful to anyone but the woman standing in front of him.

"What-"

"I'm so sorry. I can explain-"

"You're a fucking _mutant_ Len?" She interrupts, gaping slightly. She doesn't wait for his answer, shakes her head slightly and turns on her heel, walking out of the bathroom in a gesture that hurts almost as bad as the wings themselves. He limps after her, only to have the bedroom door slammed in front of his face.

 

He heaves a suffering sigh and pulls out his comm, slumping against the wall carefully.

"Geoff." He greets somewhat urgently.

"Leo? You know what time it is?"

"Yeah- that's... Not important. It's happened again." He hears the little huff of air M'Benga lets out crackle over the comm.

"Did she see you?" Geoff asks after a minutes silence.

"Yeah, She did."

"Shit that's bad Len..."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." He replies, scowling.

"I'll be there in 20"

Len heaves a shaky sigh if relief. "Thanks Geoff." He closes the comm and stumbles into the living room, waiting patiently for M'Benga whilst concentrating on not bleeding over their expensive cream carpet.

The doorbell rings finally and Len pushes himself to his feet with a groan, almost collapsing into M'Benga when he manages to fumble with the lock on the door until it opens.

"Woah-kay Cupid, let's get you to the hospital hm?" M'Benga says, leading the man down the stairs.

"That joke wasn't funny the first time." He replies, voice slightly slurred.

Geoff supports his weight as they walk towards his car and man-handles him into the backseat, much to the other mans resentment.

"I didn't sign up to this." Len mumbles into the seat in front of him.

"No you didn't." M'Benga agrees. "But you're stuck with it. So you can either learn to live with it and stuff everyone else... Or you can keep keep cutting your wings down, pretending they don't exist and tell yourself its not getting worse every time they bust out of your back."

He gets a feeble grumble in reply. "Can't work as a doctor with 7 foot wings."

"No.. I guess not."

Len mutters something about being unhelpful.

"You sure this is what you want Len?" Geoff asks as he pulls up at the hospital.

"Yeah. It is." He mutters after a long silence.

 

***

 

Bones lays on his front in the bed like he normally does, the covers are low, revealing a large expanse of tanned skin across his broad shoulders and slim waist. But the skin around the protruding wings is marred and unhealthy and the ethereal white feathers are still streaked red with blood... not to mention they're frickin' huge... They drape over the side of the bio bed until the tips trail against the floor on either side.

"You're okay." Leonard whispers from the bio bed, voice a little croaky from disuse but relieved nonetheless. He looks at Jim with bleary eyes and sees the hurt expression on Jim's face, the same one Pamela wore when she found out his... Situation. "You weren't meant to find out like this Jim."

"I wasn't mean to find out at all was I?" Jim's sounds angrier that intended but he can't bring himself to apologise.

Len huffs a breath against the pillow. "No. Not if I could help it." He admits, fatigue clear in his voice.

"Why would you keep it from me Bones?" Jim doesn't get a response. Too many drugs have been pumped Into Bones' body so he waits, and prays that his best friend will pull through.

*5 hours later*

Jim must of dozed off at some point because he snaps his head up at the alarms screaming around him. One thing he's learnt on his time aboard the Enterprise is that: alarms in medbay? _Not_ good. Len's convulsing on the bed, the beautiful white wings cocooned around himself protectively as blood starts to seep through the stitches across his back.

"He's going into shock! Get him hooked up to an IV line and keep him restrained, we can't loose any more of those stitches!" M'Benga calls hurriedly. Jim watches his lover being bound to the bed as he tries his best to struggle free, even unconscious he's still a stubborn bastard.

Just when he begins to settle again, his wings stretch out within a flash, sending the nurse flying and landing with a heavy thud against the side of another bed. Fully stretched, the wings measure a good 16 feet from tip to tip.

"Captain, get over here and hold 'em down!"

Jim somehow manages to find his feet and push all his weight down on one wing. In the end, Jim only manages to collect two fairly nasty bruises while they're being clamped down.

It doesn't look right, Jim realises, an angel being restrained like this. He knows Len would prefer sticking to the ground over space any day, but how does a man with wings have aviophobia in the first place? One thing he does know; he's gonna get to the bottom of it. Just as soon as Bones wakes up.

 _If_ he wakes up.

"Captain, you should get some rest. We'll comm you when he shows signs of coming round." Chapel shoos him out of med bay with a flick of her wrist and only when he's alone in his quarters does he realise, looking at all their acumilated _stuff_  that the one man he always thought he could trust is someone he doesn't really know anymore.

 ***

When Len wakes up, it's to a dull ache to his back and a throbbing in his hand. He looks blearily down to the source of the pain and finds none other than Jim Kirk's unruly mop of hair next to him. Bent over the bio bed and barely perched on his chair, the position looks uncomfortable and Bones grimaces at the back ache Jim's going to have if he stays like that much longer.

"Jim." Len whispers. Jim stirs in his sleep but the death grip on Len's hand doesn't let up. " _Jim_ " Len repeats a little louder, waking the younger man up with a groan.

"Hey, you okay?" Jim asks, letting go of the mans hand in favour of brushing Len's hair away from his face.

Len smiles softly. "Yeah m'alright. Wha'happened?"

Jim looks a little startled for a moment. "You don't remember?" Len shakes his head slowly as conformation. "You jumped in front of me and got shot... -Don't ever do that again by the way-...And then 8 foot wings burst out of your back."

Now it's Len's turn to look startled, he pushes himself up shakily onto all fours. "Bones, slow down." Jim pleads, pressing on the small of Len's back. Bones just shakes his head. He rises to an upright position with a little support from Jim.

Slowly but surely, the wings spread out until they're full length. Bones blinks at them as if they're completely alien to him. "They're bigger than I remember." Bones mutters after a long silence, looking almost timid.

Jim's about to say something but M'Benga draws back the privacy curtain, glaring disapprovingly at Bones. "Leonard, you shouldn't be up. You'll tear your stitches again."

"Again?" Leo asks, panic clear in his voice.

"You went in to Hypovolemic shock. You're lucky to be alive."

"Shit." Leonard sighs. "Geoff, not that I don't appreciate everything, -I do- but when can I get out of here? because this is quite a lot to take in an' I've got a lot of explainin' to do." He glances at Jim sorrowfully and drops his gaze to the floor.

The doctor sends him an understanding glance. "Tomorrow. As long as you promise not to step foot out of that bed of yours." When Len looks surprised he continues. "You've been out four days, your back's almost healed so I haven't got much reason to keep you here as long as the captains taking care of you."

Leonard nods softly. "Thank you"

"And Leonard? You can't keep doing this to yourself."

Jim glances between the two men, noting the the threat in that sentence. Len purses his lips and nods, watching the temporary CMO walk away.

***

"You need a hand getting dressed old man?" Jim smirks, trying to sound cheerful. Len grimaces slightly.

"Actually... yeah. Please."

Jim's smirk fades quickly. He nods, purses his lips and helps Len up to his feet. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Let's just get out of here."

Once Jim's done helping him into his slacks (which takes more energy than he cares to admit) Jim looks up at him with slight concern. "Shirt?"

Len shakes his head. "Not gonna happen kid. I'm not parading around in just my damned pants either. 'M a doctor not a stripper."

"I dunno Bones. You seen yourself lately?" Jim sends a pointed look to the defined abs decorating the mans stomach. Len scoffs in reply.

"Mutant genes make it easier to build up muscle-" Bones trails off, suddenly aware of Jim's silencing glare.

Len clears his throat and mutters an apology, standing stiffly, Jim's guessing it's so he doesn't have to move his torso too much.

"Scotty." Jim says into his comm. "beam us straight to captains quarters would you?"

"Aye sir"

***

 

"Pamela." The greets with a sigh of relief when he enters the house. She's curled up on the sofa, frowning at some old fashioned paper-back she's reading. She doesn't look up though, just acknowledges his existence with a grunt. "I'm sorry, I really am. It's just-"

She looks up at him then, noticing the lack of wings. He can almost hear the gears turning in her head. "I'd think I was dreaming If the bathroom wasn't covered in feathers."

"I'm-"

"-sorry. Yeah I get it. You said last night you'd explain. So explain."

 

He sighs, sits on the sofa and crosses his legs. "When I was a kid, pa didn't like the fact I'm a mutant. Not good publicity for the hospital. One day he'd had enough. Took me to the surgery and had 'em removed. Ma didn't know until the doctor called her and said the operation went fine. She was so angry... Took me and pa home, they were arguing all the way. Then the drunk driver crashed into out car an' I always got rid of em' after that."

"How many times-?"

"3. Gets worse every time... Geoff's advised me against getting rid of them again."

They stare at each other for a while before she sighs. "We'll try and get through this Len. I'm not promising anything..."

"That's more than I can ask of. Thank you."

 

***

 

The rumours spread like wildfire, he hears the whispers, even his nurses look at him like he has the word 'freak' written across his forehead. He and Pamela stop talking, as a result, He's hardly surprised when he walks in to Pam and Clay Treadway in his bed. There's no anger, or resentment, just defeat. He huffs, packs his bags -and flask- and leaves a note and his ring on the table.

"Leonard?!" Geoff calls as he loads his car. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere away from here." He replies, rubbing his temples. To his surprise, Geoff cracks a small smile.

"Join Starfleet."

"What?!" Len splutters.

"Join Starfleet. I signed up already. Maybe you should too."

"And why would Starfleet want an alcoholic, _aviophobic_ , mutant doctor?"

"Because you're the best alcoholic, aviophobic, mutant doctor I know." Geoff replies easily.

It works, Len's mouth twitches up into a smirk. "Dammit man. I don't know-"

"Just think about It."

And so he does. One month later he files for a divorce and steps onto the shuttle that changes his life forever.

***

"Did she know?" Jim asks quietly as they make their way to the sofa. Len lets out a heavy sigh, knowing exactly who ' _she_ ' is. He eases himself onto the couch and winces slightly as he momentarily forgets he has wings, tucking them behind his back more comfortably.

"She found out eventually, yes."

Jim's shoulders seem to sag a little at that. "How'd she find out?"

"I'm gonna need a drink for this."

Jim nods, pours them both a decent amount of bourbon and places the glasses on the side table, watching Bones take a sip from his drink. "Let me start from the beginning kid."

 *

"'Blamed myself for my parents deaths." Bones hiccups after his third? Fourth? Drink. "Then when I first started working at the hospital they came back. I locked myself in a storage cupboard and wouldn't come out." He laughs dryly, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Anyway, the doctors had to sedate me an' when I woke up they'd been removed." He twirls his glass in his hand and finishes the rest of his drink. His wings twitch seemingly of their own accord, as if they're protesting at the mere thought of being amputated again.

 

"Second time I'd been drinking. Don't remember much about it. Some guy at the bar was goin' on about how 'people like me should be experimented on or hired out.' We had a bit of a disagreement, next thing I wake up in the gutter with M'Benga stood over me...he took me to the hospital an' we stayed good friends after that..

"And then there's Pam." He sighs. "She saw it happen once, stormed away and I didn't hear from her 'till I had 'em removed. She said we'd try and get through it but we stopped talking. She was cheatin' on me, started rumours just so she'd get the attention so I packed my bags and left. These things have hurt everyone who's got close. I couldn't do that to you, Jim."

Jim stares for a minute, seemingly trying to process the information before huffing a breath, setting his glass back on the table and kneeling in front of Bones, taking his hands away from the tight clasp in his lap and gripping them with his own slightly smaller hands.

 

"Hey. You're not gonna lose me okay? Would I of liked to know about this earlier? Yes. Is this a lot to take in? Yes. " Jim huffs a small laugh. "But I understand why you didn't tell me Bones, I get it."

Bones' brow draws together into a frown. He stands, shucking his hands out of Jim's and stalks towards their bed, wings fully stretched as if to block himself from the rest of the world and head hung low.

"You don't understand."

"What-"

"I cant get rid of them again. Every time they're amputated they grow back bigger an' more painful. I can't work as a doctor with 8 foot wings Jim." The ' _I can't be with you and_ _have 8 foot wings either_ ' is left unsaid, but Jim can hear the insecurity in Bones' strained voice.

"Hey" Jim whispers, placing a hand on Bones' shoulder. "I'm not gonna let anyone take your job from you ok? Who else is gonna stitch me up and tell me I'm a 'goddamn infant trying to get himself killed'?" Jim asks in his best impression of Bones' accent, who in turn grimaces slightly, Jim can see it in the twitch of his jawline and the rustling of a few errant feathers. He reaches out, smoothing out a line in one of the wings, which are both a state of disarray after being cooped up in a biobed for so long, but Bones flinches, turning quickly and wings flared slightly in defence mode. 

Jim clenches his fists, impeding the rising anger towards anyone who told Bones he wasn't good enough, deciding instead to wrap the man in an awkward embrace, avoiding putting pressure on his back and abdomen and threads his fingers through the doctors chestnut hair. The tension just sort of leaks out of him, like a deflating bouncy castle, as he melts against Jim.

"I love you, idiot." Jim states simply, as if that solves all of their problems. Maybe it does. "You being a mutant doesn't change that. In fact. It's kinda hot Bones. I always said you were my guardian angel." Jim smirks and Len offers a watery grin.

"Bones!" Jim gasps after a minutes silence. "Can you fly?!"

Jim gets a smack around the head for his efforts. Thanks to Jim, for once... he feels like maybe he can live with the wings.

But he's not gonna tell Jim that.

The mans ego's big enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, it's been a while since I've come back to this. Im sorry about that, but hey, it's a surprise right? Ok, so again, writing style has changed quite a bit but here's a full chapter for you, no screwing up of timelines here, no siree. 
> 
> Bones' first day back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I finished my first year of A Levels!!! Yaaaaaayyyy! So I have a super super long holiday and I'm gonna post lots, hopefully. But this one is the starting point.

"Boo."

"Hey Jim." Bones says, without glancing up from his padd. He'd been confined to three days in his and Jim's quarters, with the promise of being able to return to light duty afterwards. Today's his third day, which means tomorrow's the big day everyone gets a surprise when he wanders through the halls of the Enterprise with 8 foot wings sprouting from his back. Those who don't know about it already, of course. Not that it matters, these are probably going to be his last shifts on the Enterprise if Starfleet have anything to say about it.

"Bones, Bones Bones _Bones_." Jim sing songs, nudging the padd out of Bones' hands and sitting himself sideways on the man's lap, gently, but still earning an ' _oomph_ ' for his efforts.

"You know, there's two thirds of a perfectly comfortable sofa that could've accommodated your ass just fine if you'd of angled it 20 degrees to your left. Instead you're torturing an invalid." Nevertheless an arm comes to wrap around Jim's waist and he resettles himself against the pile of pillows that supports his back and wings. A warm hand sneaks under the bottom of his black v-neck, long fingers resting delicately on the waistband of Jim's jeans, definitely not regulation, being all clingy like that. "Why aren't you in uniform? I thought you had shift today?"

"Ah. Well, I may of told you a teensy lie."

" _Jim_ -"

The blonde brings his arm forward from where it was bent secretively behind his back, holding out a parcel wrapped in a nondescript grey paper. Bones narrows his eyes, staring at the package for an unmitigated amount of time. "I promise it's not going to kill you." Jim says, pushing the packet towards the man again. He takes it reluctantly, peeling back the tape ever so slowly and deliberately and raising an eyebrow at the little indignant whine the Captain lets out in response.  
His expressions changes to one of confusion, however, when he finally tears open the paper.

"What-"

"It's a harness." Jim says simply, taking the mass of soft leather straps from Bones hands and straightening them out. "You were worried about your wings getting in the way of your work. I don't think Starfleet would be too pleased if you started cutting giant holes in your uniforms anyway." Jim says, eying the Ole Miss t-shirt stretched over broad shoulders, now somewhat sadly and haphazardly slit at the back to accommodate the huge pair of wings. Might make it hard to steal that shirt anymore.

Bones is still staring at him, so Jim nudges him to his feet, lifting the hem of his shirt carefully over Bones' head and down his wings, ruffling a few feathers in the process. Jim reflexively moves to smooth out the disheveled plumage, hand drawing back quickly as Bones flinches in response.

"Bones." Jim says, bringing his hands up to frame the man's face carefully, their noses almost touching. "Let me do this for you." He's met with a momentary silence, honey and forest coloured eyes searching his own until he gets a small nod of assent in reply.

He presses a gentle kiss to full lips so tantalisingly close to his own, smiling as he pulls away.

"Turn around?"

Bones does so, somewhat reluctantly, letting out an unexpected groan when Jim's fingers kneed at his shoulders. Jim smirks to himself.

"Your backs been hurting." He observes, pressing down at a particularly prominent knot and getting another contented moan in return.

"Wings are heavy."

Jim drags him to their bed, sits him on the edge and kneels behind him to get to work on easing the knots out of the mans muscles. He doesn't even notice when Jim's hands start to trail down towards the base of his wings, where skin starts to merge with feather. This is the first time he's properly touched them, and its somewhat weird, soft down covering prominent bone, but he could get used to it, he thinks as he smooths down the plumage with a light brush of his knuckles.

He gradually begins to gain more confidence in his touches, carefully straightening out any feather out of place and revelling in the contented sighs he gets in response.

"Better?" He asks when he's finished. Bones nods in response, leaning back into him. He presses a kiss to the back of Bones' neck, just beneath his hairline and reaches over to grab the discarded harness. "Stand up for me." He does so, folding his wings against his back tightly like he presumes he's expected to. "Relax, or you'll ruin all my hard work."

He brings the thickest strap around the largest part of the wings, the leather wrapping just under the brunets pecs and fastened with poppers. The rest of the straps connect to this one, cobwebbing in an intricate pattern across the man's back before pulling over his shoulders and crossing in the middle of Bones' chest, before finally stopping at the initial strap across his ribs.

"Comfortable?" Bones nods dumbly,flexing his wings experimentally in their confines and finding little give. His wings are moulded to his back, which is a feat in itself, but shouldn't effect his ability to wear uniform that much either. "Your blues have been modified already to fit Starfleet requirements, I tried to get them to allow you to wear this all the time but they said it would violate some protocol. But they've allowed you to wear it with your scrubs for surgeries. Made it a requirement, actually."

Bones' eyes widen comically. "You convinced them to let me stay?"

"Told you I would. They never stood a chance... Well, not after the bridge crew threatened to quit."

"They did _what_?!"

"Relax, Bones. I tried talking with the admiralty reasonably. When they were being too pig-headed to talk I told them I'd quit, and then Uhura sort of joined in, and Chekov.... And Sulu... Spock implied it vaguely but the intention was there."

Bones sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Dammit kid. Don't put your job on the line for me. I'm not worth that."

Jim's face falls slightly. "If you really believe that, I don't deserve my job. You're the one that got me on this ship but it would mean absolutely nothing without you here by my side. If I have to spend every minute of my life showing you just how much you're worth to me then I will." It all comes out rather quickly and unexpectedly, and he tries to will away the blush that he can feel blossoming over his cheeks.

Bones unblinkingly at him, his eyebrow creeping up to his hair line. "You're a sap, you know that?" He drawls eventually, a smirk playing at his lips that tells Jim everything's still ok between them.

"Dick. You're meant to fall lovingly into my awaiting arms."

"On the inside I'm swooning for you, kid. If you're not careful I might even keel over right here and you'll have to carry me to bed with your macho strength and tell me stories about how many dragons you've slain." Bones smirks a little at Jim's somewhat crestfallen face and pulls him into a hug, which is surprisingly easy now he doesn't have to navigate around wings, he can barely even feel the harness. "Thank you, it's perfect. And I'm sorry, for being so distant over the past few days. It's just been... hard to handle."

"I know. But I can't sleep that well without my human radiator, so would you maybe stay in here tonight? I could even sleep on the couch and let you have the bed, I just-."

"No, Jim, don't be an idiot. We'll make it work." Bones had been sleeping in his old quarters the previous couple of nights, resulting in Jim having to sleep alone, which he hates, but they both agreed it would be better to let Bones heal properly first before working out how to accommodate huge wings into the fairly small Captains bed, which is hardly big enough for the both of them as it is. Jim has the tendency to sprawl.

"Why don't we test it out now?" Jim says with a leer, which given their embrace, Bones can't exactly see, but can probably hear anyway, given Jim's mouth is pretty much on his ear.

 

"Why don't we... Sleep now and see what happens in about an hour." Bones suggests instead, and it's a better offer than what he was expecting, so he nods, reaches down between their pressed together chests to pull at the main strap of Bones' harness, which comes undone with a small _'pop_ ' of the buttons and pushes it off the man's shoulders easily, giving the wings room to stretch without their confines.

***

He wakes, not unusually, before Bones, welcomed to the sight of the half of the other mans face that's not buried somewhere in the pillow beneath him. What is unusual, however, is waking up in a cocoon of white feathers, and it takes a long disorientating moment to realise that one of Bones' wings is enveloping and shielding Jim completely from the outside world, the other still neatly tucked against his back.

At some point in the night they ditched the duvet, and Jim, despite being completely naked is comfortably warm surrounded by soft feathers. Looks like they can make it work after all.

Bones stirs, wing curling around Jim more and pulling him closer as a hand comes to rest on his hip. "'Mornin'." He mumbles, eyes still stubbornly refusing to open but face tilted towards Jim, inadvertently baring his neck, which allows Jim to make out a dark, faintly mouth shaped bruise against the juncture and is suddenly assaulted with the image in his head of what Bones looks like sat naked on Jim's lap, wings flared gloriously behind him like a backdrop as he screwed himself on Jim's dick. _That_ is an image that'll stay in his head for a long time.

"Morning Bones." He groans, and can just see the edge of a smirk on the brunet, like he can tell what Jim was just thinking. Sneaky bastard.

Bones shifts slightly so he's fully on his side, arm sneaking fully around Jim's waist and pulling him towards him so they're chest to chest.. And then promptly appears to go back to sleep.

"Bones." No response. "Boooones" he sing songs, adding a fairly hard jab to the side for effect.

"Oh my god. What?!" Bones says, cracking an emerald eye open and quickly closing it against Jim's sunny smile. He groans and sinks back to the pillow.

"We have shift in half an hour, thought you'd want the warning."

  
Bones sighs and curls into Jim slightly more for a few minutes before slowly sitting up, -leaving Jim cold, thank you very much- and stretches his wings carefully. He looks nervous, well, he looks nervous for Bones, anyone else and that expression would look mildly unhappy, but Bones' nervous face consists of a tiny downturn of his lips and a slight furrow to the eyebrows.

"It's gonna be ok, y'know?" The man looks at him impassively. "The crew will either be interested or jealous, but you're still the doctor who patches them up and saves their asses on a daily basis."

Bones scoffs, propping himself up against the bed with his forearm. "They've got nothing to be jealous of."

"Come on. It's every kids _dream_ to have wings."

"It doesn't live up to reality, _kid_."

"You'll be okay." Jim says again, leans up to press a kiss to Bones' lips to seal the pledge. "Besides, if someones staring at you too much you can fend them off with that scowl of yours. Yeah, that one there." He says, poking a finger at the furrow on the man's forehead and earning a swat in return.

He leans back, head resting on his hands as he watches Bones gets up with a sigh to get dressed, smirking when Bones notices him watching and cocks an eyebrow at the man's incredulous expression.

"You plannin' on getting up at all, captain?' Bones asks, pulling on a pair of boxers and trousers in quick succession. Jim smirks again.

"I can be up and ready in 5 minutes and you know it. You've still got to try and mould your hair to your head. Besides, I'm enjoying the show." As soon as the words come out of his mouth he gets hit in the face with a gold shirt, rumpled beyond hope and by the time Jim gets it off his face Bones has tactically ducked into the bathroom to avoid further conflict and, presumably, to gel his hair into submission.

 

He stands, stretches, and pulls his own uniform on and waits until the lock on the bathroom door is disengaged before brushing past the brunet to start his morning teeth cleaning ritual. (Bones calls it a ritual. Jim calls it hygiene.)

"Help me with this, would you?" Bones asks as soon as Jim's finished flossing, dangling his medical blues from one long extended finger with a rather sour look on his face, not surprising, the man hates asking for help for anything, much less putting on a shirt.

It's a complicated shirt though. And while Jim had made sure it was made as easy as possible to get on (particularly in a rush, medical personnel have an unfortunate penchant for having to leave in a hurry.) it's not that easy to accommodate two large wings into an otherwise simple tunic, especially after said man has just been through extensive surgery.

"There. Done." Jim says, brushing a line down both wings in assurance and admiring his handy work.

 

"Thank you." Bones turns in his arms, hands resting on Jim's biceps as his wings fold neatly against his back.

"I'll see you for lunch?"

Bones nods, feeling somewhat sick at the prospect but resigns himself to following Jim as he walks out of the door of their quarters. It doesn't take him long to notice Jim escorting him to medbay like he's some blushing teenage girl at prom, but having the captain with him, as much as he hates to admit, is helping somewhat, because the few crew members they bump into either blatantly stop and stare at him or try to cover it up with a hasty salute thrown to their superior officers.

Bones really isn't sure which one is worse, but he glares, sighs, and resigns himself to following his captain all the way to medbay where he can hole himself up in his office and pretend everything's ok until lunchtime. And then he's going to have to face it all over again in the mess hall. His wings twitch and flare in annoyance of their own accord, and some poor unsuspecting ensign hastily retreats to avoid being accidentally hit in the face by an errant feather.

"Bones." Jim says, looking back at him from the corner of his eye. He's got his captain's face on, something that only comes out when he's being genuinely serious, or irritated, but there's a softness and to his voice and eyes now that makes Bones think it's all for show. "I know you hate this, but if you could avoid exploding the ensigns with the powers of your mind it'd be much appreciated."

Medbay appears soon enough and he's not entirely sure whether to be relieved or not. Of course, leaving Jim's side means facing the crew by himself, and while it's certainly a _plausible_ prospect, it's been a long time since he's had to put up with the stares, the hostility towards mutants is something that still something that lingers, despite best efforts to irradiate it, and that's something he hasn't really had to deal with since he was about 12, so yeah, of course he's reluctant to leave Jim. Besides, the last couple of work free days with the man have been kinda great.

Jim breaks him out of his revere by squeezing his arm once and walking down the corridor with that stupidly distracting sway to his hips. "See you later, Bones."

 

He steps into Medbay, part of him expecting a sort of rush of darkness or scorn directed at him. Instead he gets his usual chorus of 'morning boss' and he has to take a moment to register the anticlimax of it all. There's no glares, no hushed remarks, just his staff and a few crew members getting on with their lives.

"You're on light duty, doctor." Christine says, and gives him a once over as if to check he's alright. Apparently he passes her test as she thrusts a padd in his hands with a scheming smile. "You get to do all the paper work you missed!"

"Oh, thank you. Glad to know you kept me in mind while I was away."

"We wouldn't want you to be bored now, would we boss?"

Apparently nearly dying hasn't depleted his staffs insolence in the slightest. Somehow he finds that a relief. With a twitch of his eyebrow that's apparently become known as his version of a smile he makes his way into his office, where he doesn't so much as hide away, but just pass the time.

 

***

 

"... Doctor McCoy on ze bridge!"

There's an awkward moment proceeding where everyone stares at him with a sort of uncomfortable shocked silence that makes him shift uncomfortably and tuck his wings further against his back. _This_ is why he hates being a mutant.

Jim turns in his chair, his face one of surprise and something he can't quite make out because a second later he has Uhura's long arms wrapped around his torso and he can't quite hold back the grunt of pain from the pressure on his stomach and inevitably his back too.

She makes an apologetic sound and loosens her grip on him slightly, enough for him to be able to return the hug before she takes a step back, presumably to retain some professional dignity, like it hadn't already dissolved in the face of an awkward embrace.

"I'm glad you're ok. You had us worried for a minute there."

"I'm ok." He confirms, and notices the rest of the bridge crew have seemingly gone back to work, though none one them look as if they're actually getting any work done.

"They're beautiful, Leo." Uhura says quietly and for a moment there he wonders what she's talking about, then the fact that he has actual, physical wings now returns to him and he gives the most genuine smile he can offer, though it falls a little flat.

The problem with having a physical mutation is once it's noticed (and his is hard to _miss_ ) it becomes something you're defined by. He was always "the kid with wings" at school, never someone recognised for his skill or personality. He's 33 now, he's built a successful reputation based on the fact he's a good doctor, not because he's a mutant. He shouldn't be complimented for something he was born with, it was luck of the draw and in his opinion, he picked the short straw.

Uhura goes back to her console and does actually seem to go back and the others seem to follow suit soon after, with the exception of Jim, who's staring at him with a mixture of happiness and confusion like he's a brand new puzzle to solve.

"Requisition forms." He says, waving his padd gently. Jim makes an " _oh_ " sound but his smile doesn't desist.

"Good to know Christine's keeping you busy." Jim smirks, taking the padd from him and squeezing his hand. The brief contact startles him a little, not that they keep their relationship private or they don't do the hand holding shit when they're off the Enterprise, but they like to keep their relationship away from work. That being said, the comfort of it is kinda nice and he returns the gesture, tangling their fingers easily. "You look tired."

"I'm off duty for the rest of shift. Doctors orders." A fact for which he's glad for. He _is_  tired and his back and stomachs hurting from where he's been bent over a desk the past few hours, but he has a lineup of bed, painkillers and food in his near future, with the added bonus of Jim's company, so it doesn't seem as bad. "I'll meet you in the mess."

"Yeah, see you then." Jim replies, sounding surprised at his willingness to be in public. In actual fact this visit to the bridge was more of a test run to see how the crew would react, so he feels confident enough to face it. Besides, the sooner he gets it over with, the better. Like ripping off a bandaid.

He squeezes the man's hand once more before letting go, nodding politely at the rest of the bridge crew on his way to the turbo lift.

 

***

  
He doesn't really mean to do it, but as soon as he gets through the door of their quarters he face plants onto the bed and somehow falls asleep that way, half dangling off the bed and fully dressed. He blames it on the meds.

 

***

 

Something's shaking his shoulder gently. It's annoying enough to rouse him from sleep and he growls at whoever it is that's trying to wake him up. His wings twitch in warning but relaxes when Jim's warm soft voice floats into his ears.

"Bonesy, baby. Wake up. I brought you food and if you wing-wind me it's gonna end up all over you."

He pushes himself up, noting that his boots and belt have already been taken off, for which he's forever grateful for, and rubs his eyes as he stares up at the man above him blearily. "What time is it?" He mumbles, and deep down he knows it's later than he'd anticipated.

"14:00 hours."

 _Whoops, he was meant to go to the mess an hour ago._  "Shit. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to fall asleep."

Jim smiles reassuring, nodding in the direction of the tray of food that's been set on their side table. "I figured as much. Thought we could eat here instead."

"Thank you." He replies, the mattress dipping with Jim's weight next to him. They eat in companionable silence, the food making him feel slightly more alive than he had been. As soon as they're done he grabs their combined dishes and cutlery, setting them on the side and straddling Jim's hips before he can try to help and kisses the protest away.

"Not that I'm complaining," Jim gasps between kisses. "But what was that for?"

His wings drift around Jim of their own accord, their movement becoming more automatic as the days go by. The end feathers drift across the back of Jim's neck like a caress, earning a shiver as they ghost across his back and surrounds them both from the rest of the world. "You. For taking such good care of me."

"Well, it's about time someone did." Jim says, looking so genuinely happy his heart clenches in his chest. "Besides, it wasn't all me. Muriel was responsible for the food."

"You have a good crew."

"The best." Jim smiles, pulling them down do they're laying face to face, a wing laying heavy and warm over them, drawing a contented hum from the blonde. "My very own guardian angel."

"M'not an angel."

"Bones. You _soo_  are. You have wings, fix people up for a living. You brought me back from the _dead_." Jim teases, eyes sparkling with mirth. The most effective way of shutting Jim up, he's learnt by now, is to keep his mouth occupied with a kiss, dirty and and completely sacrilegious.

He's not an angel, God knows he's committed more than a few "sins." Blasphemy is a second language to him and he's not sure what the bible would have to say about bringing people back from the dead, but he's pretty certain it's not allowed.

But he has his ship. His crew, a family that he'd never really had before, who have shown more support to him in a day then his parents and coworkers ever did in his lifetime. He has Jim, alive and golden in his arms, who's saved him more times and in more different ways than he could of imagined.

He's ok with having wings if it means he can have this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you enjoyed this one, back to a fairly similar writing style next chapter/s As the previous two I'm afraid, writing in this level of detail takes me aaaaggges. The next chapter I promise you'll find out if Bones can fly. I have an actual plot for it and everything. 
> 
> On another note I am so sorry for the delay on Red Sun Rising, I had it all written out and decided it wasn't good enough, so it's being rewritten. *shrugs* I like the fic and it's difficult to come up with a suitable ending in that sort of style without making it incredibly cheesy.


End file.
